Rick Wells, principal at the Blakelock Road college, said: “Lynne was an outstanding student, who was completely committed to her studies while enjoying the wider aspects of Brinkburn student life.

“The college achieved outstanding results once again in 2011, achieving the highest pass rate of 99.6 per cent in Hartlepool, alongside 61 A* grades across 15 subjects and 62 per cent of BTEC students achieving triple distinction grades.”

Examinations board OCR got in touch with the college to confirm that Tan had achieved 9th place in this year’s A-Level maths results.